China Coast Guard ships have been used to assert Beijing's territorial claims in the South China Sea. - Reuters
HANOI (Reuters): A Vietnamese ship monitored a Chinese Coast Guard vessel on Saturday (March 25) in a Russian-operated gas field in Vietnam's South China Sea exclusive economic zone (EEZ), data show - the latest Chinese patrol in a pattern stretching more than a year.
Chinese coast guard ships have sailed directly into energy exploration blocks operated or owned by Russian firms in Vietnam's EEZ about 40 times since January 2022, according to vessel-tracking data from Vietnamese research organisation South China Sea Chronicle Initiative (SCSCI), an independent non-profit.
